What exactly will the "non-betting sports" discussion board be about? Rumors? Whether it's transfer news or not, I don't think having team news, updates, injuries, and predictions on a single thread is a bad idea, but I'd prefer if a single thread was dedicated solely to odds and predictions!
The "Gambling Discussion" board staying put but a dedicated "Sports Discussion" board created where spreads, odds and bets are not the basis. Various sports can have their own threads within the board. Just an idea to differentiate between gambling and sports talk threADS...

I'm surprised that a member who has only posted in the NBA thread and isn't a big football fan would open a duplicate thread of the three European competitions (UCL, Europa, and Conference league) for most 1xbit spammers to flood on; this isn't a good sign. I'll try to report the thread, but I doubt the mod will do anything because the OP isn't wearing a signature.
I do not know the background behind the user and what reasons he had for starting another football related thread (Champions League) other than citing it was not self-moderated... but as you said the spammers will eventually flood it.